First Meeting
by Knightmare Fox
Summary: Dartz met the love of his life in a place where he shouldn't have been.


**First Meeting**

 **Things to know before reading:**

"Talking"

 _Thinking_

 **PAIRING:** Atlantishipping (Dartz x Lore/ Iona)

 **DISCLAIMER** : I do NOT own Yugioh nor do I make a profit from writing this.

Enjoy!

….

He wasn't supposed to be down by the outer wall. He _knew_ that. His Father had warned him many times, but…

 _The other children aren't allowed down here, yet they're here all the time! I just want one look!_

The young Prince of Atlantis sat down on the edge of the wall, and looked down. There was nothing but algae sticking to every nook and cranny with an assortment of insects. Nothing extraordinary. Nothing dangerous.

Harsh, choppy waves lapped at his sandaled feet. He giggled, and kicked at the water. It seemed completely harmless.

 _Father must be confused. It's not…_

A large wave suddenly slapped him backwards, and his head hit the soft ground, barely missing a sharp rock. The wave drew back, bringing him with it. He coughed and sputtered as he gripped at the edge of the wall desperately.

The wall was slippery. Too slippery. He held on tightly as the next wave hit.

This one almost took him out to sea. He readjusted his hold, coughing violently, as he heard another wave rolling in. Dartz shivered.

 _Why didn't I listen?!_

He gasped for air as the wave drew nearer. The boy prayed for a miracle. That's when a smaller pair of hands grabbed his own, and pulled him up just as the wave hit.

Dartz fell to his hands and knees when the stranger let go, and allowed his unshed tears to fall. For several seconds nothing but the solid earth beneath him mattered. He was grateful to be alive.

As he came down from his adrenaline rush he realized that his savior was speaking. The young Prince sat back on his knees and looked up, pushing his soaked blue locks from his face. Brown doe eyes, set in a round face, met his. She tilted her head to the side, her tawny hair flowing with the motion.

"Are you alright?"

He blinked, slowly processing the question. "I… y-yes. I'm fine." He rose to his feet. "Thank you." Dartz smiled down at her. She was only a few inches shorter than he was.

"You're welcome." She brushed away the dirt from her lavender dress. "What are you doing down here, anyway? I thought it was against the rules."

He blushed and scowled at her, arms crossed over his chest. "N-none of your business! Why are _you_ down here?!"

"I was picking flowers." The girl pointed to her small pile a few feet away.

"Flowers? But, there are flowers everywhere else…"

"I know that!" She fumed. "These white ones only grow down here."

"Oh." These particular flowers were rare. It was even more unusual to find white ones. "I see."

 _What a lame answer!_

Dartz blushed again, looking away, hoping she couldn't see. The evening breeze cooled his warm face as he attempted to force the blush away. When he was certain that his face was back to normal, he looked back at her.

She was smiling with a far off look in her eyes. His eyes narrowed. "Why are you smiling?" She giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. Before she could answer, a woman's voice called out.

He couldn't make out what the woman said, nor could he recognize her voice. The girl did, it seemed. She began running towards a small cluster of buildings.

"Wait! You didn't answer my question!"

She stopped and turned to face him, smiling once more. "I was thinking about how cute you looked."

Red immediately tinted his cheeks yet again as his eyes widened and his mouth hung open. She giggled and continued running. He stayed frozen, staring after her for several minutes.

 _What did she mean, "cute"?! Boys are NOT supposed to be cute!_

Dartz glared at where she'd been, huffing indignantly. He contemplated going after her, until he looked at the horizon. The sun was setting.

He _needed_ to get home, before his Father realized he was gone. As he began his long trek home, his thoughts drifted back to the girl.

 _No one gets away with calling me cute! I'll have her banished tomorrow!_

It wasn't until hours later, when he was in his bed, that he realized didn't know her name.

….

 **AN:** First, Dartz is 11 years old, and Lore is 10.

Second, since Atlantishipping is pretty much non-existent, I'll be adding more one-shots like this! :-) So, I hope you guys enjoyed it!

If you have any constructive criticism or writing advice, then please review or send me a pm. Thank you for reading!


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